8.20.2008

" stopped by Jackpot’s desk to ask him some online questions last week.

He wasn’t there, so I waited around a few minutes, looking at celebrity photos and the lack of decoration until my eyes landed on Straight To The Source: An Expose From The Former Editor-In-Chief Of The Hip-Hop Bible. I heard Kim Osorio, The Source’s first female Editor-In-Chief was planning to release a Tell-All Book for some time, but I hadn’t realized it would hit bookstores so soon. With Jackpot nowhere in sight minutes later, I snatched the copy and took it back to my cube, so I can flip through the pages.

So here I am reading the ackowledgements when this Harris freelance writer stops by to chop it up. He immediately sees the book and starts spilling the beans? “Yo, she says a lot in here,” says the writer. “Love triangle with Nas and 50?” Needless to say he spoiled it for me. I hadn’t gotten that far. And like most readers, I got sucked in by the juicy tid bits. Could Osorio have been involved in a love triangle with Nas and 50? Come to think about it, could she have been the reason the two MCs fell out. Fif has long said he and Nas’ relationship soured when Columbia switched their verses on Jennifer Lopez’s “I’m Gonna Be Alright,” but could there be more to it? Apparently not.

Osorio does come clean about frequenting Nas and Fif for brief periods, but the timelines don’t conflict, so there’s no love triangle there. But here’s what separates Straight From The Source from opportunists like Carmen Bryant and Karrine “Superhead” Steffans. Sex isn’t the book’s focus. While Bryant and Steffans dedicated chapters to their sexcapades and went into great detail, including the size and width of their shlongs, Osorio doesn’t. Nas and Fif are mentioned because they’re essential to the story’s conclusion, not for sensationalism.

Personally, I could care less about Nas and Fif. I cared about interesting information like Nas hanging out with Freddie Foxxx. I cared about Osorio being conflicted between providing for her daughter and carrying out Ray Benzino and Dave Mays’ immoral missions during The Source’s glory days and its darkest hour. I cared about Benzino switching covers at the last minute, re-ordering cover shoots, randomly firing employees and trading covers for beats and guest appearances on his records. I cared about Zino favoring street cred over journalistic integrity, which eventually lead to the mag’s downfall. I cared about Dave Mays’ inexplicable fear of Benzino, especially considering Zino has never been documented as one of the publication’s true founders.

This is a must-read for hip-hop writers and readers. It’ll give you insight into your former favorite magazine’s downfall."